Moans and groans about manufacturers

Wanting to buy a new laptop for my wife, and being interested in the Tiny MediaBook 3000 (80g HD, 1024mb RAM)currently being sold for £799, I searched this forum to see if there were any comments. What did I find? Loads of people saying don't buy Tiny/Time under any circumstances. Yet I had a Tiny desktop PC for 5 years, and the only thing that went wrong was that the power switch failed in the first year of use, which was speedily replaced under warranty. Then, having replaced the Tiny with a Mesh (one that was recommended as a Best Buy in the PC Advisor power comuter listings), I though I would see what people were saying about Mesh. Again, loads of moans. Well, I've been running this since August 2004, and the only problem I have is that it won't restart - I have to switch on and off from the restart switch on the rear of the case - no big matter.No, my main moan is with software and periperal suppliers, and their apparent inability to respond to simple questions, e.g.:-(1) I have used Paint Shop Pro through from version 7 to the current version 9, buying upgrades as they have become available. However, the upgrades leave the previous versionon my computer. I emailed JASC via their website to ask if it was safe to uninstal previous versions. NO ANSWER(2) I brought a Pentax *istDS DSLR, but on trying to load the supplied software, including the electronic manual, my computer crashed. I emailed Pentax, via their UK website to ask if there were any known problems. NO ANSWER(3)A photograpic magazine reviewed the Sitecom USB On-The-Go Copy Box which enables copying from one USB device (e.g.a card reader) to another (e.g. external HD) I went to the Sitecom site and the only reference to the gadget was on the e-mail page where it appeared in a drop down menu of items to enquire about. The Sitecom site links to etailers of their products, but none of these sites showed the device as available. I therefore sent an email, again via Sitecom's site asking where and if I could buy it. Again NO REPLY!

These examples show the really shoddy aftersales and presales service that is all too common.

I like you many years ago had a Tiny computer and had no problems with it. I think most people (though some wont admit it) started of with a Tiny. They were cheap and came with printer and scanner. I now have a Mesh and again have had no problem with it.

Regarding moans, it is very rarely you will get anyone saying "this is the best thing I have ever bought". It seems to be the norm for people to post there dissatisfaction than to send praise.

As far as e-mails go I have suffered the same responses as you. The dreaded no reply. Obviously the larger the company the more mail they will recieve. So I reckon they sift it out into two types. Reply or delete.

the problem is even although they will not answer the emails their products are still selling!

I have a new nokia 6230 mobile. It was supplied with version 4.44 firmware, nokia have now released an upgrade with enhancements - I have been waiting for a week for a reply to an email I sent nokia.

Mesh, MSI computers and amazon are companies I have emailed recently - the response has been excellent. I have also been emailing a fireplace manufacturer - again the replies have been swift and excellent - they will most likely get the sale.